A Mighty Endeavour
by j02ea
Summary: Humanity have never been strangers to war and it was war that lead them to dominion over the solar system. But as the colonies of Earth are established, a strange anomaly is detected on the borders of interstellar space and all that was achieved will be threatened by an all-powerful and very similar foe... MULTIPLE POV’s.
1. Timeline & Info

2020's - Tensions rise again between east and west, caused by both the second Ukrainian crisis and East Asian coups. History repeats itself again as NATO and the Russian-Chinese alliance are at each other's throats, building up their nuclear arsenals and racing each other to better their space faring capabilities. (Cold war II)

2025 - Mars one, despite the world stage, goes ahead with many different nationalities participating to set up a permanent colony on mars. The tensions between east and west ease off for a moment as the whole world watches the brave crew of Mars one go the 'furthest man has gone'. The trip takes seven months.

2026 - Mars one arrives on mars and a temporary colony is set up.

Planet Nine is also discovered. It is named Jana, after the roman goddess of secrets. It's aphelion orbit is 1200 AU's.

2028 - Russia/China launch a program to create nuclear weapons with powerful booster rockets. NATO, because of the Cold War, race their counterpart to it, leading to early prototypes and developments of a nuclear fusion engine.

2030 - After many years of research, ups and downs, achievement and failure, even before the second Cold War, Austrian born Marcel Schuster (Involved with NASA and NATO) develops the first, space capable Plasma Propulsion Engine, shortening distances between Earth and its fellow planets by a significant amount of time. The PPE/VASIMR (Variable specific impulse magneto-plasma rocket) is capable of reaching speeds up to 34 miles per second.

2032 - the first PPE/VASIMR capable transport, carrying supplies needed for a fruitful colony on the moon. The tensions between east and west ease off greatly as this achievement is for all mankind.

2032 - President of the UN, Friedrich Koehler quotes "the feat mankind achieved today was astronomical, historical. However, it only managed to happen because of the threat of war, so let's put aside our differences as the future is for all humanity."

2033 - PPE/VASIMR transports carry supplies and materials for more colonies on mars. It takes 39 days to get there. They also give the chance to the Mars One astronauts to return to Earth or even the new Moon colony as they could not have without the help of the plasma propulsion engines.

2035 - The first successful moon colony is established. It consists of many giant 'biodomes' which can have a breathable atmosphere, plants can grow and most importantly, people can live there. The colony is called Solis (Latin) and is positioned in the Mare Imbrium. The cost to go and live on the moon is $6000000, however this will decrease over time.

2037 - The first successful Mars colony is established also consisting of large biodomes. The colony is named Primus (Latin) and it costs $8000000, this also decreases over time, however.

2040 - By this time, most fossil fuels are replaced with a renewable hydrogen engine. This achievement greatly decreases global warming, however the effect left on the planet before the change means there is 'a lot to clear up after.' Ridding Earth of the pollution still present in its atmosphere may take decades...or centuries.

2042 - More colonies are established on the Moon, they are: Griffin (Mare Crisium), Anglia Luna (Mare Serenitatis), Russiky Luna (Copernicus), Kepler (Kepler crater). On Mars, there is: New Rome, Prometheus and Olympus (Near Olympus Mons).

2045 - An orbital station is placed in orbit around Venus. It is large enough to allow people to live there. It is named Ignis.

2046 - UN announces that two new colonies are to be made on the moons of Europa and Titan, orbiting both Jupiter and Saturn respectively.

2047 - Artificial gravity is perfected and inserted into transport ships, allowing easier travel to the colonies

2048 - The colony ships reach Europa and Titan. Europa's colony is built into the ice and the massive ocean below it, as to keep safe from the suns rays when Jupiter's magnetotail is not protecting the moon. The abundance of liquid water in Europa's ocean provides the colonists drinking water and also greatly decreases water shortages on Earth.

On Titan, the Methane lakes provide energy through the use of hydroelectricity. Titans colony is also a growing tourist location because of the view of Saturn.

2049 - Titans colony is named Harmony and Europa's is named Jovian.

2050 - Railgun weapons are perfected. The M1 SMD (Stationary Mass Driver) is built and fitted to a space capable ship. This is the first step towards space warships.

2052 - An orbital mining platform is stationed in orbit above Saturn, mining Hydrogen, Helium 3 and, in some cases, Methane. It is needed for nuclear propulsion/plasma propulsion.

2055 - the Early Warning Station program is accepted and the UN goes to work building stations around the Asteroid Belt to warn Earth and Mars about possible asteroid trajectories on collision courses with the two planets.

2060 - 10 Early warning stations are now active and have crews of 20 people, swapping with fresh personnel every six months. A singular station is situated in orbit around Uranus, however, early warning is its secondary objective. The Uranus station also carries many deep space exploration satellites, one of them is Voyager 3.

2061 - Voyager 3 is launched and because of better technology, is able to stay in contact longer than its first and second counterparts. Also, in being launched further from Earth, Voyager 3 may be able to reach Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System, although this will take centuries.

2066 - More gas mining colonies are set up around Saturn. Mining probes are sent into the asteroid belt and Saturns rings to mine water from asteroids with ice in them. Around this time, the first signs of uprisings to separate from Earth appear on Europa's colony, Jovian. This is the beginning of the FJR (Free Jovian Rebels)

2067 - The first military space faring vessel is launched. It is called the UNIN (United Nations Interplanetary Navy) Endurance. It is armed with 50mm Close In Weapons Systems, 125mm Orbital Bombardment Cannons, Stationary Mass driver (Railgun) and 4 Vulture Nuclear Warheads (Nuclear weapons are only allowed on ships if the government approves, most likely in times of war, or if at DEFCON 1) It has a PPE/VASIMR Mk III engine.

2070 - The UN reforms into the United Nations Interplanetary Government, which governs all the colonies and their nations, including Earth. Each nation from Earth and all her colonies has a say in how the system should be run and the UNIG headquarters is located in New York, USA (In the original UN building)

2071 - The United Nations Interplanetary Government Armed Forces (UNIGAF) is established along with the original United Nations Interplanetary Navy (UNIN). Earth nation militaries still exist however.

2074 - Human population exceeds 11 billion, 20 years prior to the former UN predictions in the 2010's. UNIGAF has approximately 5,211,490 active soldiers and 2,573,392 in reserve, 301,832 Main Battle Tanks, 348,393 atmospheric jet fighters, 137,483 AOF's (Atmosphere to Orbit Fighters), 247,372 Mobile Missile launchers, 505,489 Manned artillery pieces, 58,408 Mobile Anti Air/Orbit Guns and 100 stationary coilgun turrets and a nuclear stockpile of around 700 nukes.

UNIN has 100 Light Battle-frigates, 100 Heavy Battle-Frigates, 75 Mk III Battlecruisers, 50 A class Dreadnoughts and 3 Main Heavy War Cruisers. All ships have 20-60 CIWS, 2 IPBM's, 125mm OBC's, 4-10 Vulture class Nuclear warheads and 1-3 Stationary Mass Drivers (SMD's). All ships can carry up to 100 FX-96 Space Capable Fighter Craft, 75 FX-52 Space Capable Long Range Bombers and 2 SR93 Blackbird Spy Space Plane.

2075 - Most of Mars is terraformed, the atmosphere can now hold a fair amount of breathable air and this opens the way for more cities to be built on Mars. However, the resources used to terraform run dry. Experts say they won't be able to terraform again until at least 2160.

2077 - Many types of cancer can now be easily treated. This means human life expectancy goes up to a guaranteed 90 years and a likely 100 years old.

2079 - 20 years faster than its counterpart, Voyager 3 exits the solar system and arrives in interstellar space. At this point, the personnel aboard Uranus 1 Space station activate its Semi-power VASIMR rocket. This means that Voyager 3 could possibly catch up with Voyager 1.

2080 - Voyager 3 sends back a picture to Uranus 1 and it shows millions of tiny speckles of light which are distant stars, however, in the middle of the picture there is a larger, brighter speck. It is the sun. The picture is hung up in the SPG's headquarters with the caption - 'Humanity's achievement' above it.

2083 - The Jovian crisis begins. Free Jovian rebels attack a UNIG transport. The UNIG responds in kind with the intervention of the USFE-UNIGAF (Unity of Special Forces Executive) which consists of the best of Earths Special forces. Special forces such as SAS, Delta Force, Navy Seals, GIGN, GSG9, SEK, Spetznaz, MARCOS, SSG, Green berets, Shayetet 13, etc...

The conglomerate of spec ops soldiers successfully defeat and destroy the rebellion and restores peace. The USFE bloody their talons and are a force to be reckoned with.

2085 - Second Jovian crisis begins, once again put down by USFE. After this, an large Stationary Mass Driver is built near Olympus on Mars to protect the planet from hostile FJR ships. Another is built on Earth in southern Siberia. This new model of SMD's are called PDSMD's (Planetary Defence Stationary Mass Driver)

2090 - The FTL experiment disaster happens. Scientists attempting to create faster than light engines die because of a radiation leak in their creation. The project is immediately closed down and the UNIG won't permit another one until 2110.

2100 - The Hawkeye Mk 1 telescope is established on Mars. It is able to magnify its lenses at great lengths and still create a clear picture. The 'great glass eye' as Hawkeye is nicknamed focuses its lenses on the closest interstellar neighbour, the Alpha Centauri system, which is 4.5 light years from Earth and captures a clear image of an earth like planet orbiting the star. UNIG promises that they will let the FTL project reopen in 2110 at this historical discovery.

2110 - UNIG allows the FTL program to reopen. Many volunteer to raise money and help in the project.

2111 - Powerful radio signals are detected coming from the Epsilon Indi system, 12 light years from Earth. UNIG ups the military budget just in case it may be hostile alien life.

2112 - The ECI (Executive of Central Intelligence-UNIG) covers up the powerful radio signal mystery to the public. The file containing the information on the incident is only known to 10 individuals amongst the UNIG. Not even it's president knows.

2113 - Madu Rashidi becomes the president of UNIG. Human population reaches 13 billion.

2114 - UNIG accept the bill to create the Sol Class Main Heavy War Dreadnought, a military vessel proposed to be 2 km long. Construction starts the following year.

2117 - Present date...

UNIGAF equipment list:

UNIGAF consists of five sections

1\. Land army (Infantry/Army rangers/Home guard/Artillery corps/Medic corps)

2\. Air Force (Fighter jets/AO Fighters/Space capable Fighters)

3\. Aquatic Navy

4\. Vehicle corps (Tanks/Troop transports/MML/MAAOG)

5\. Marine corps (Land, Ocean, Space)

Infantry equipment list:

Assault rifles - CUA 70, AKm-98, m6a2, MCR 200, SCAR-X, FACP-24

SMG's - MCR-U, HK MP5-97, P50MA1, Kriss Vector

Shotguns - KS11, AA63, Hutchinson A3, Benelli M3037

Sniper Rifles - KDPS-41, M82A6, L117a3

LMG's - M464, M8 Crisium, LSW 43,

Launchers - Type 54 Surface to Surface Launcher (T54 SSL), AV/A 62, M840 Individual grenade launcher, Javelin Heavy launcher.

Pistols - AL9, .44 Magnum, OLY-M12, M1SP

Heavy - M2098 Heavy Automatic Turret, Type 52 Stationary Coilgun turret (Prototype)

Misc - M5 HE Frag Grenade, M7 SEMTEX, M12 Tactical Flash-bang, M3 Smoke screen, M11 EMP Grenade, OTR Flare Device, NVO Goggles (Night vision), Thermal/Infrared viewing device, EDTIN Binoculars, X8 Combat knife

Attachments - Standard Ext Mag/Dual mag, M414 Grenade launcher, M119 UnSl Flamethrower, TAA Laser sight, B1 flashlight, B7 strobe stun light, M32 ACOG scope, M7 SLD adjustable scope, Red dot sight, Reinforced stock (any weapon)

Vehicles:

Land -

Ocelot V Main battle tank - One Heavy main cannon and two Stationary defence turrets.

Jaguar II BTR

Zeus IV SUV

Janus III Armoured Humvee

Disciple I Armoured Troop Transport

Weston Mobile Missile launcher

Weston Mobile Anti Air / Orbit Gun

Weston Mobile Semi Mass Driver (prototype)

Air -

F-44 Eighth Generation Jet

X-99 Atmosphere to Orbit Fighter craft

P-09 Hyper-Engine Fighter

B-75 Long range Stratofortress

C-8 Stealth Class Bomber

AC 130-B Air support vehicle

C 130 Troop transport

Predator drone/Atmos/Space capable weapons pod(ASCWP)

SR 93/A-Blackbird Spyplane

UH 120 Support Helicopter

CH 144 Chinook

AH 12 Warhawk Helicopter

UNIN - Space vessels

FX-96 Space capable fighter craft

FX-52 Space capable long range bomber

SUS-86 (Space Utility Shuttle)

SR 93/S - Spy Spaceplane

Washington class Light Battle Frigate (LBF)

340 metres long

Southampton class Heavy Battle Frigate (HBF) 410 metres long

Tyrant class Mk III Battlecruisers

500 metres long

Berlin A-Class Battle Dreadnought

800 metres long

Interstellar class -Main Heavy War Cruiser

1 kilometre

(Under construction as of 2117) Sol class Main Heavy War Dreadnought.

2 kilometres

Other -

PPE/VASIMR Engine series: (miles/sec)

Mk1 VASIMR - 34 mi/s (39 days to Mars)

Mk2 VASIMR - 36 mi/s (36-7 days to Mars)

Mk3 VASIMR - 39 mi/s (33-4 days to Mars)

Mk 4 VASIMR - current favoured engine - 42 mi/s (30 days/1 month to Mars) or Mk 4 VASIMR military grade, used in navy - 44 mi/s (28 days to Mars)

EWS program (Early Warning Station):

As of 2117, twenty Early warning stations are active in the Solar System.

5 outside the Asteroid Belt (Earthward)

5 in orbit with Jupiter

9 in the Asteroid belt

1 in orbit with Uranus

The EWS warn Earth and the colonies of possible asteroid collisions and harmful interstellar rays. Their secondary objective is to warn of possible 'outside' communication.

Human population: 13 billion (8 billion on Earth, 3 billion on Mars, 1 billion on Europa and Titan each, 10,000 on Ignis station in orbit around Venus, around 5000 in EWS and Gas mining platforms.

Locations:

Moon - Solis, Griffin, Anglia Luna, Russiky Luna, Kepler, New Cairo and Oceanum Vetus.

Mars - Primus, Prometheus, Olympus, New Rome, New Athens and Zhímíndì

Titan - Harmony

Europa - Jovian

Venus orbit - Ignis

Companies:

Weston - Vehicle company, mainly specialise in land vehicles. Develop vehicles for UNIG armed forces. Most land vehicles in UNIGAF are manufactured by Weston.

Reynolds - Develop heavy weaponry. Mainly rocket launchers or any grenade orientated weapons. Also work on magnetic technology to implement into SMD's. Reynolds have tested out the first Magnetic accelerated SMD and are going to implement it into the Planetary defence SMD on Mars by 2118

Southampton Space Vessel Manufacturers (Southampton, UK) - Manufacture space faring vessels for both civilian and military purposes. Developed the Southampton class Heavy Battle Frigate.

Washington State Vessel Yard (Seattle, Washington, USA) - Manufacture Military purpose space vessels. Developed the Washington Class Light Battle Frigate.

Berlin Raumschiff Drydocks (Berlin, Germany) Develop many civilian and military space vessels such as the Tyrant Mk III, Berlin A-Class, Interstellar Class Main Heavy War Cruiser and are constructing the Sol class Main Heavy War Dreadnought.


	2. Chapter 1: The Strange Beyond

**Hey, this story is basically about what would happen if the Earth was found by the Galactic Empire but it is 100 years into the future so Earth has colonies on Mars, Titan and Europa and has better technology (explained in previous chapter). Anyway, Enjoy!**

The achievement that human kind had managed to achieve was phenomenal. They had breached the cradle of their world, Earth, after being stuck there so long fighting wars, plotting against one another and being so focused on themselves.

Only for 150 years had humanity been sailing the stars, but so much had been achieved in such a little amount of time. Since the first launch of a man made object into space to the colonisation of half the solar system it had only been 150 years.

As the solar system was colonised, humanity got better, stronger and ultimately united, a feat thought nearly impossible 70 years earlier.

Now a unity called the Sol Planets Government looked after Earth and her colonies. The population was bigger than ever before and their was enough room for everyone, technology was at an all time high, wars were less large-scale. It was a golden age for the human species.

Or so they thought...

 _SPG Uranus Early Warning Station, in orbit with Uranus, 11/12/2117 Earth Standard Calendar..._

Nearing the border of the solar system to interstellar space, there lay the Gas Giant Uranus. A world of Pale blue clouds that looked very peaceful from above but down on the planet, they were hellish as they carried winds that went to speeds of 300 miles per hour.

However, for the personnel that manned EWS-10, they got to see the peaceful side of Uranus.

Situated in orbit above Uranus, the EWS-10's job was to monitor for any incoming objects from the distant Kuiper belt, but that was its secondary objective.

EWS-10's primary objective was to monitor the data being sent back by deep space probes, one of which was the famous Voyager 3.

The small crew of ten men and woman observed and relayed the information the probes were giving back to Earth. They got a personnel swap every six months.

And that six months was nearing its end for SPG Lvl 3 operative Henry Simmonds.

Henry Simmonds smiled as he remembered that fact, sitting at his control panel in the main control room aboard EWS-10.

He glanced at the calendar messily screwed to the wall to the right of him.

"Four days..." he muttered to himself while supporting his tired head with his hand

Henry wondered why he ever was eager to get this 'job'. Six months just waking up in amongst the same boring grey walls, then sitting at the control panel monitoring the data being sent back by Voyager 3 and other deep space probes. He always wondered what data there was to send back in the middle of goddamn interstellar space.

When he got back to Earth, he was definitely signing up in the military, there was a lot more action.

Just then he heard someone enter the control room as the sound of the automatic doors swishing open filled his ears.

He swivelled on his chair to see SPG Lvl 5 operative, Chen Tsai enter the room, striding like she owned the place.

'Well, she kinda does' Henry thought to himself.

"Operative Simmonds." She greeted him, Henry just waved back at her.

She walked over to the viewing window, the 3 inches of reinforced glass between them and outer space. Chen stood there for a moment then sighed and faced Simmonds.

"Well you know what time it is." She stated. Simmonds rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I do, another useless check of data from Voyager 3." He huffed. Chen laughed.

"I can tell, you're going to quit this job when we get back to Earth."

Simmonds nodded slowly "Correct, the military sounds much more exciting."

Chen stepped back from the viewing window and walked to her control panel opposite Simmonds.

"I guess so but there's not much going on at the moment, you'll probably be just bored as you are here." She voiced her opinion.

Simmonds grunted "Uh, I don't think there's a more boring job than sitting on your ass in outer space, checking up on a probe that won't find anything for another century."

"Well that's one way to put it..." Chen muttered, then sighed again.

Simmonds knew she was tired, as was he, of being stuck on a space station for six months doing literally nothing. The only thing for entertainment around here was the other crew members and maybe the gym.

"Well, you better retrieve the data Voyager 3 is sending." Chen stated. Simmonds breathed and nodded, retrieving the data via a computer screen.

Once he accepted the transfer of data to the station, the screen read that it would take 30 minutes to reach it. Simmonds nodded. Everything was normal as usual.

Simmonds turned to Chen and for the next half an hour, they chatted about what they would do once they got home and there loved ones. At some points, other crew members would walk in and have a small talk while bringing a few refreshments. To Simmonds and the rest of the crew, this was entertainment.

"So, Simmonds, army or navy if you are really signing up." Chen questioned curiously. Simmonds could tell she was a little upset by his decision to leave.

"Uh...probably army, I think I'm sick of space at the moment." He laughed and so did Chen

"You think Lara will like that?" Chen mentioned his girlfriend. Henry smiled as he knew he had something to look forward to when he got back home.

"Eh, she didn't mind me going out here for a shift, so the military can't do any harm." He explained, Chen nodded and was about to respond when an all too familiar beep interrupted her.

Simmonds glanced at the control panel as it sang out its alarm, indicating Voyager 3's data was imminent.

A moment later the data arrived. Simmonds knew it would just be more nonsense and uselessness and more of a waste of time than anything.

He opened up the file on the screen and was awarded with another familiar sight, the authorisation screen.

He glanced over the screen, knowing almost every word. It would say something along the lines of "This is an SPG document of data. Only to be read by authorised personnel. If you are authorised to view the data, please enter the authorisation code and relevant information."

Simmonds blinked and typed in the code he knew all too well. The screen changed and accepted the code. It then changed to the file containing the data from Voyager 3.

He scrolled through the usual information such as the integrity of the probe, power levels and its location. However when he got past all of that, he noticed something very different...

At this, Simmonds sat up very quickly, causing Chen to narrow her eyes at him.

"What is it?" She queried, also straightening from her lazy position. Simmonds didn't answer but kept his eyes glued to his screen, a confused expression on his face.

"I...don't...know" Simmonds whispered, more to himself than Chen.

Chen quickly rose from her chair, jogging over to Simmonds. When she got there and viewed his screen, her expression matched his almost immediately.

The screen that was feeding back Voyager 3's data was shocking, to say the least. It read 'Unknown anomaly detected. Estimated size: 1.5 km, 281 AU's from sun'

If Voyager 3 was still inside the shell of the solar system, this unknown anomaly would have been dismissed as a lone asteroid from the Kuiper Belt. However, Voyager 3 was deep in interstellar space and you did not find a lone asteroid out there, especially a 1 and a half kilometre one.

Chen' breathing was getting noticeably faster, as was his. Chen then shook her head, as if dismissing something.

"Order the Voyager to activate its cameras and take a picture of the anomaly." She commanded, authority rising in her voice as she assumed control.

Simmonds nodded and sent a message back to the Voyager 3 to activate its cameras. The message would take another half hour to reach it.

"It's done." Simmonds confirmed. Chen nodded and ran back to her control panel. Seconds later, an alarm sounded and the rest of the crew of 10 came rushing into the control room. Chen stood on her chair and addressed them.

"Everybody, Voyager 3 has detected an anomaly in deep interstellar space, its size is estimated at 1.5 kilometres. We have no idea what the hell is out there out the moment but we must get Earth on the horn. Ok?" Chen announced. The crew looked visibly shaken by the news but assumed their positions quickly.

"Sir, what do you think it is?" One of the crew members asked Chen while getting to his desk. Chen placed her hand to her chin and thought for a moment.

"I really don't have any idea what could possibly be out there." She concluded. Soon the crew were arguing about what it could be. Chen sighed then raised her hand.

"Hey, HEY everyone shut up, we need to be focused!" She shouted. The crew silenced after a moment "We need to get that message to Earth. Send it to Titan, they should be able to relay it back to Earth."

The crew nodded and went to work. For the next hour, they speculated over what the anomaly could be. A couple of times, Simmonds overheard someone say 'aliens'.

Simmonds wondered what this could mean for him, his family and especially his girlfriend, Lara. What if it was ET's and what if they were hostile. He shuddered at the thought.

"Ma'am, our message has reached Titan, they're sending it to Earth." A crew operative called out to Chen who nodded at him.

"Good work...now we just have to wait for the Voyager." Chen muttered. Simmonds locked eyes with her for a moment. The look in them was what was circling Simmonds mind at that very moment...'what was out there and what did it mean for the human race?'

A distinct beeping sound filled the room. Every crew member went deathly quiet as they knew what it was. Simmonds took one final glance around the room. Everyone was focused on him with a nervous look in their darting eyes. With that, he drew in a sharp breath and clicked on the new file that had popped up on his screen. The tension that strangled the room got ever thicker.

The screen changed. The words that Simmonds first saw were 'SPG Deep Space Probe Photograph file, authorised personnel may proceed to observe by entering the authorised code.'

Simmonds felt a sweat bead run like a river down his forehead as he steadily entered the right code. He noticed in his peripheral that ten forms were looming behind him and the chorus of breathing was getting heavier.

The code was entered and Simmonds confirmed it. The screen changed to the photo taken by Voyager 3...

The jet black colour of space and the specks of distant stars was the first thing that everyone saw, but in the right corner a stone grey, triangular shaped...thing was there and behind it there seemed to be a large amount of light, too much to be stars.

Chen moved closer to the screen, eyes full of curiosity but anxiousness. "What is that?" She whispered faintly.

Simmonds turned and faced the whole crew who had gathered in front of his screen. They all had unnerving expressions on their faces.

"Now if that doesn't look like..." one crew member trailed off.

"A ship?" Chen hoarsely whispered. Simmonds shared her speechlessness. What in the hell were they looking at because it definitely did not look like an asteroid.

A female crew member approached Chen. "Ma'am, Earth has replied, they want to know what's going on."

Chen blinked and glanced at the operative. She closed her eyes for a moment then looked back at her.

"Send them this: We have received photographs from Voyager 3 observing an unidentified object estimated to be 1.5 kilometres in size. It is approximately 281 AU's from the sun. We are awaiting instructions." She ordered, authority seeping back into her voice

The operative nodded and ran back to her panel, typed up the message and relayed it to Titan who would send it to Earth.

Simmonds breathed either from the pressure of the current crisis or the fact he had four days left on this damned spca station and then there was a crisis now, which probably meant he had to stay for longer.

Another beeping noise distracted him and Simmonds and the rest of the crew peered at his computer screen. Another indication of data from Voyager 3 and...

"Who the hell ordered Voyager to change course?" He shouted and stared at the crew. All their faces twisted in confusion.

"What are you talking about Simmonds?" A crew member questioned back. Simmonds grunted in annoyance and gestured at his screen.

"Look" he explained "Voyager just tilted 63 right and is now heading in that direction."

"Did anyone do that?" Chen asked, also sounding severely pissed off.

The crew looked at each other and all chorused a "No." Chen snorted at this.

"Now come on, own up!" She shouted. One crew member cleared his throat. Chen snapped her head to him "What is it?"

"Ma'am...uh...the object could be...responsible." He muttered. Chen looked at him in disbelief.

"Really! Come on, one of you must have accide-"

A second beeping noise cut her off. Simmonds looked at his screen again. A photograph file was incoming from Voyager 3. He opened it once it came on screen.

And got the shock of his life...

The image that came up showed Voyager's cameras now directly pointed at the strange object due to the mysterious trajectory change. However, the triangular object now seemed to be pulsing a bright blue light from its side and it looked like it was encasing the Voyager.

Simmonds swiped to the next photo and Voyager was now definitely moving toward the object, the blue light encasing it intensifying. Around the edges of the photo, static was forming.

"Simmonds, what the hell is this..." Chen questioned, her voice dripping with nervousness. Simmonds whipped around and faced the crew, breathing heavily.

"Quick, someone check the signal levels emitting from Voyager!" He almost screamed. An operative rushed over to their screen and brought up the data.

"Yep, she's losing signal!" He confirmed. Simmonds nodded and swiped across to the next photo. Voyager 3's camera was almost all filled with static but he could just make out the object as it was closer than ever. He almost chocked when he thought he saw lights on it.

He then swiped to the next and final photo. It was completely static and a small 'No Signal' error message was in the right corner. Simmonds just stared and breathed heavily as did the rest of the crew.

"What in god's name was that shit?" Someone queried. Chen exhaled rather shakily after the question and turned to the crew.

"Get this data to Earth, I don't think we're alone."

 _2 hours and 34 minutes later, SPG Headquarters, New York City, United States of America, Earth..._

The President of the Sol Planets Government, Madu Rashidi sat in his office in the famous headquarters of the former UN, now SPG. He had been signing off documents from Europa that had asked (or demanded, he wasn't sure) for the materials to build a commercial space station in orbit around Europa. This plan had been in motion for several years, since 2111 to be exact, but only now were the Europans getting the resources needed for this 'tourist travelling hub'. They had been recovering from several Free Jovian Rebel attacks which had began to sprout again, causing them to use their money to rebuild their beautiful colony. Madu would say he was privileged to lead all of humanity, but he preferred the word 'honoured'.

Madu glanced at the words on the sheet, 'Tourist travelling hub' . He chuckled to himself. Travelling to the colonies was still considered expensive, even though it had drastically decreased since it had first been possible way back in 2039, as it cost a good $2,000,000.

Still it was another small achievement as tourists going into space was on par with a wild dream back in the early years of the 21st century.

Madu was about to take the document away when he noticed one of the guards near the heavily armoured door lift his hand to his earpiece and nod at the other guard. Madu sighed quietly, this usually meant a visitor.

Sure enough, one of the guards began to unlock the door and the other approached Madu himself.

"Mr President Sir, The Chief of Space Operations wants to see you. He says it is urgent" the guard spoke, his eyes hidden behind black shades (which had an advanced HUD in them)

Madu frowned a little. What could possibly be urgent news? Another FJR attack? He hoped it wasn't something too extreme.

"Send him in." He said. The guard nodded and the door opened, revealing the Chief of Space Operations. He looked quite pale and his normally neat, brown hair was messy. Worry was evident across his ageing face.

He strode over to Madu clumsily "Mr President Sir." He started. Madu reached for his outstretched hand and shook it. While doing this, Madu could feel his palms had been sweating.

"Mr Rodriguez, I take it you have urgent news for me?"

Yes sir, most urgent." Chief of Space Operation Antonio Rodriguez stuttered. Madu frowned at him.

"What is it, another FJR attack?" He questioned. Rodriguez shook his head and brought out a briefcase. He unlocked it and inside was a file. The words 'Urgent, For authorised personnel only'.

Madu eyes widened as Rodriguez revealed a set of photographs from the file and in the bottom of the photo he could see details about Voyager 3.

"What is this?" He demanded. Rodriguez exhaled before responding.

"Sir, these images were taken by Voyager 3 approximately two and a half hours ago. They were received by the Uranus early warning station." He explained.

Madu observed the picture before him. It was deep in interstellar space, apparently 281 AU's from the sun according to the details in the corner of the photo. He could make out a triangular shaped object in the top right of the page and there was light behind it.

"Rodriguez, what am I looking at here?" Madu asked. The Chief of Space Operations sighed.

"Sir we have no idea what it is but take a look at the next picture."

Madu nodded and did as asked. He swapped the former photo for the one below it. This time, he got a big shock.

The triangular object in the previous photo was now emitting a blue flash, almost like a distant star but bigger. A blurred aura of blue had also seemed to encase Voyager 3.

Madu widened his eyes even more as he viewed the next photograph. Voyager 3 had seemed to of changed course and it was distinctly heading toward the object. Static washed the outside of the picture.

The last photo was almost completely covered in the ghostly grey of static, but Madu could just see the object and it was much closer. He thought he could see golden specks of light on its surface.

"We lost contact with Voyager right after that photo was taken..." Rodriguez piped up. Madu faced him with a stern look in his eyes.

"What do you think it is, Chief Of Space Operations?" He queried. The chief in turn was taken aback a little by the unexpected question.

"Well sir, forgive me if I sound like an idiot but I think...it's..." He trailed off "...it could be...extraterrestrials."

"My thoughts exactly, Mr Rodriguez, you do not find asteroids in interstellar space and it wasn't identified as a known comet. Also the fact it EMP'd our probe is quite compelling." Madu explained. Rodriguez observed him with a questioning look.

"Mr president sir, what do you propose we do?"

"I will inform Lord Oaken to put the military on alert just in case. Then we will and try and establish contact if they are indeed ET's. Also, make sure your Early Warning Stations are on standby."

"I will do that sir." Replied Rodriguez. Madu walked back to his desk and stared at the framed picture of Earth. He thought about its long history and at that moment he knew he had a duty. A duty to protect the Solar System.

"One thing is for sure, I don't think we're alone anymore..."


	3. Chapter 2: Instructions

Chapter 2. Please know that any mention of the letters SPG last chapter was meant to say UNIG (please read info chapter to understand what UNIG is.)

Fleet Admiral Jorol Rahn, Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle, in geosynchronous orbit above Coruscant. 1 BBY.

To say that Fleet Admiral Jorol Rahn was nervous was an understatement.

Since he had awoken to the day, he had been shaking with anxiety. Not only was he nervous and unsure of why he had been called out to this conferenced, but he was also a few minutes away from meeting with one of the most unnerving men in the galaxy.

However, the ride in the Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle felt like it was taking hours. The dull, grey architecture of the federal district in Imperial City seemed to roll by a million times. Jorol checked his uniform was in pristine condition to not bore himself.

A shudder made him straighten up, as did the other men in the seating area of the Shuttle. Jorol looked them over and played their names over in his head

The short, athletic man opposite him wore the standard grey Captain's uniform, his rank badge displayed on his chest and his hat perfectly symmetrical to his head. Jorol remembered his name as Dextjov Faleese, Captain of the ISD Colossus. His record, if Jorol thought correctly, was only small, the fact being that this officer was relatively young in both career and age. He seemed jumpy and nervous, his grassy green eyes darting from left to right, just like Jorol, however he hid it better.

Jorol panned his eyes to the right. An imposing figure stared straight and the ship's wall ahead of him. His build was quite tall and muscular. His name was Ganio Torpoli. He also had the rank of a Captain but Jorol could tell people respected him as a lord. This man, Jorol pondered, looked like he couldn't be deterred by a horde of raging Acklay's charging at him. He had an air of steel about him, a trait that Jorol thought would suit any type of mission fine.

The craft jumped a little as the landing gear made contact with the landing pad. Jorol used this as the sign to get up. The back of the ship's wall opened out into a ramp that extended from the shuttle. Jorol walked down it, as did the other two men in the ship, and looked upon the Imperial Naval Intelligence Agency Headquarters. The thunder-cloud coloured structure was ugly in Jorol's opinion. The near-windowless building stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the more decorative ones surrounding it. The only lively thing on the Intelligence Headquarters was the massive Imperial flags draping down its side.

"Quite uninviting..." A quietly displeased voice murmured behind him. Jorol turned and saw a surprised look on Captain Faleese's face, clearly disgusted by the blandness of the structure.

"Is it your first time here?" Jorol asked. Faleese nodded.

"I'd only ever seen it in Holopics, I suppose they made it look grander."

Jorol chuckled "Very true." He turned back forward and noticed that a group of Stormtroopers were approaching them. An escort squad.

The lead Stormtrooper was dressed in normal attire but with blue markings across his chest, shoulders and had a blue stripe running through his helmet. Jorol recognised him as a Stormtrooper Commander

"Fleet Admiral Sir" the Stormtrooper started "if you and the others would follow me."

Jorol glanced back at his peers and proceeded forward with them. The Stormtrooper entourage surrounded the three navy personnel in a protective formation and led them inside the Intelligence building.

Jorol composed himself as they neared the conference room. Beyond the reinforced doors, he was to meet the most influential and powerful men in the galaxy, not to mention unnerving.

Beside him, Captain Faleese didn't notice the single bead of sweat run down his face or that his hands were noticeably shaking. No doubt, Jorol thought, that Faleese was thinking about the horrible stories he heard about the powerful man.

Jorol glanced at Torpoli to his right. A deadly frown was set across his face. The truth, however, was that he was masking his fear behind the scowl.

The Stormtrooper Commander silently gestured something to his men and they moved on the three navy officers. Jorol did not change his face as the troopers began to pat him down, searching for anything resembling a threat. Not that it would matter if he got past the search with something, there was likely highly trained bodyguards beyond the doors capable of detecting the slightest of suspicious activities and unhesitating to blast a threat dead.

"You're clear." The Stormtrooper stated "Fleet Admiral your seat is number 7, row Aurek."

Jorol nodded as a guard entered a code into the control panel. The Heavy Durasteel doors in front of him opened outwards revealing the massive conference hall inside.

The Fleet Admiral brushed off some nonexistent dust from his uniform's shoulder and walked in.

"Fleet Admiral present!" someone bellowed from across the room and a mass of Imperial Navy personnel rose from their seats and saluted Jorol as he strode down the carpeted isle. Several eyes of Navy Officers and crewmen followed him as he found his seat, right at the front of the hall, facing the pulpit. To his sides, he saw other high ranking officers, some of whom he recognised, while others he did not know.

When Jorol sat himself down, the rest of the room copied and a low murmur settled in. A movement to his left caused the Fleet Admiral to glance at a white bearded man with ageing features scouring his face. He gave the man a warm smile.

"A pleasure to meet you" he looked at the mans name tag on his chest "Admiral Vash."

"Likewise. Why it is an honour to meet Fleet Admiral Rahn!" Vash responded excitedly. Jorol couldn't help but laugh at the man's amazement towards himself.

"Thank you for that, though I must ask, why are you so awed to meet me?" The Fleet Admiral questioned with genuine curiosity. Admiral Vash's wrinkling features turned into an emotion of surprise.

"Don't you know? You're famed for quelling that Dug rebellion cell over Malastare. You destroyed a fleet of twelve cruisers with your own Star Destroyer."

"Ah, and got promoted to Fleet Admiral, of course I remember." Jorol laughed with Vash. He remembered that endeavour well. It was a little over three years ago now, when he was stationed in Malastare space, though it felt like an eternity. A few of the native Dugs of Malastare had formed a rebel cell and gathered armed cruisers to expel the Empire's presence on their planet, despite their chances of succeeding. At the time, Jorol had been attending a meeting in a space station above the planet when the Rebel cell attacked. Rushing to his ship, the ISD Colossus, Jorol had fended of the fleet of twelve by himself and won, earning him a grand promotion to the rank of Fleet Admiral. The event had obviously been noticed throughout the Imperial Navy, Vash confirming this.

"On a more important note, do you have any idea why we have been called here?" Vash spoke up, knocking Jorol out of his memories. He relayed Vash's question in his head. The Fleet Admiral couldn't actually think why they had been called here but of course their were rumours that it was going to be an effecting event, going beyond Jorol's lifespan and further.

But it was certain that it was important.

"Honestly, I don't have any knowledge on why we're here but it must be very serious especially because 'he' is going to be here." Jorol replied. Vash nodded and touched his chin in thought.

"Yes, The Emperor is hosting this conference. I tell you, half my crew are hiding behind cover, ever since the 'clean out', many faint at the mere thought of him."

Jorol felt his blood boil when the 'clean out' was mentioned. Not that he would show the anger in front of other Imperial personnel for the threat of treason, but the Emperor had killed, without hesitation, many good officers and friends that day. This purge of the Imperial Navy had left Jorol scarred, also reminiscing the fact he had escaped it because of the Dug Rebellion he managed to quell, otherwise he probably would be dead. He shook his head, why was he thinking about that kind of thing when the Emperor could arrive any second.

Jorol peered round from behind his chair. Rows upon rows of people stretched back to the far wall, all wearing the grey of an navy officer or the black of a crewman. However, dotted in amongst them was the cream white colours of a uniform. The Imperial Security Bureau was here. Those people made Jorol shiver. Not only were they the main killing force behind the purge, but the people who worked for them were naturally sadistic. Jorol couldn't think of a time he had come across a likeable ISB officer.

Avoiding eye contact with any ISB agents, Jorol scanned the rest of the hall and spotted the company he had earlier. Captain Torpoli and Faleese sat in the crowd of murmuring people looking straight ahead. Like earlier, Torpoli had a face of Durasteel whereas Faleese showed his nervous emotions, probably unwillingly.

On the far right of the atrium, Jorol recognised some of the higher ranked personnel of his crew. A hint of pride ran through the Fleet Admiral as he observed his faithful men, they had gone through so much together: The purge of the Navy, The Malastare incident, just to name a few. He wondered, however, if this upcoming task that was supposedly life changing would test the crew to their limits. They just had to pull through, otherwise he could end up losing what he held dearest.

Jorol froze as a eerie silence swept over the conference hall. The low murmuring of people chatting ceased in an unusually creepy fashion. This could only mean one thing.

The door at the far end of the hallway began to open. The very air seemed to decrease in heat and a cold gust of air swept throughout. Everybody stood absolutely still. Not a sound was made but the quickened pace of hearts and the shallowest of breathing. As the doors opened out fully, the mechanic clunk made a few people jump. An entourage of red clad troopers walked in. They wore a blood red cloak that encased their legs and torso and a crimson helmet with a small eye slit to match. Imposingly, they started to walk down the isle. The guard surrounded a smaller figure, dressed in a robe as dark as the blackest of night. A hood obscured most of the persons face but one glance and anyone would recognise who it was.

"All rise!" An autocratic voice hollered and every being in the atrium rose from their seat. The entourage of Royal Guard and the black clad figure strode down the pathway to the pulpit at the front.

Everyone's eyes faced forward as the group passed but some people turned to look at them behind their back. The air of the room was a dispiriting mix of tension, fear and anxiety as the most feared and powerful man in the galaxy impotently graced their presence.

The Royal Guards dispersed to the left and right of the man as he walked up to the pulpit. The Emperor's head was bowed for a few moments...and then he looked up.

At that moment everyone kneeled as perfectly as they could and bowed their heads accordingly.

After an agonisingly long wait of utter silence and tension, a hawkish, spine-shivering voice broke the curtain of hush.

"Please sit." The Emperor Sheev Palpatine of the Galactic Empire commanded in a cold sneer. His ageing, wrinkled features turned upwards in his observing of the assortment of Imperial navy personnel below him. That was right, Palpatine thought, 'below him.'

The people obeyed his instruction and they sat back down in their seats, this time with an aura of discomfort. Palpatine waited a moment before continuing.

"The Empire has been graced with an opportunity that will benefit us." He began in the cold voice. Jorol listened intently. "One which will expand our influence throughout the whole galaxy."

Palpatine then paused a moment before announcing "A stable gateway has been found into the unknown regions."

A wave of surprise and shock swept across all the beings in the room. Jorol turned his head to look at Admiral Vash, who had a face of genuine curiosity. A very quiet murmur began but ceased after a moment.

"To achieve peace, justice and freedom throughout our Empire and the galaxy, we, the people of the present, must expand into these newly discovered regions and claim it." The Emperor proclaimed. In his mind, Sheev's true intentions played. Not only did he have control of most of the original galaxy, but he would conquer the rest of it and have his long awaited absolute power. Palpatine allowed himself a quick, rare grin. The Sith would become almighty, with the Jedi all but extinguished.

"The task I have bestowed upon you will be perilous. That is why each and every one of you are here. In the name of me you have served well, keeping all threats at bay from disrupting our peace." Palpatine explained. "I have specifically chosen you for this, it would be wise not to fail, my friends."

Jorol involuntarily shivered at those last few words as did a few others beside him. The Emperors unnaturally yellow eyes seemed to bare down on them, sending them an indirect threat.

However, Jorol finally knew why he had been specifically told to come to this conference. As Fleet Admiral, it seemed he would be the one commanding this operation to explore the unknown regions. An excited feeling raced through his body. Would he go down in history as a legend? Or would something in the unknown regions forever taunt him? Jorol mentally shook his head. There was no need to be thinking deeply like that when he could be the one leading a historical expedition.

As if on cue, Palpatine's dark, emotionless voice sounded

"Fleet Admiral Jorol Rahn?" The Emperor coldly called out. Jorol stood immediately.

"My lord?"

"You will be the supreme commander for this operation." Palpatine stated, in a tone that required no protest. Jorol felt his heart race. It was really happening.

"Of course my lord. I promise I will not fail. Your objective is in g-" Jorol began to mumble without thinking, courtesy to fear and nervousness, but the the Emperor cut him off.

"Enough! I'm am certain you will not fail. But know that I will not tolerate foolishness such as this in the endeavour. Or else..." Palpatine annunciated in a baleful advisement.

"Yes, my lord..." Jorol whispered in anxiety and even fear. The threat made by Palpatine had not only shaken Jorol scared down to his core, but had given the rest of the conglomerate of Navy personnel a good wake-up call to the dictator-like attitude of the Emperor.

"Now..." Palpatine calmly resumed "I am hoping for a rapid conquering of the unknown regions and want no contest. If we are to achieve galactic piece and the destruction of any rebellion, then the creatures of the unknown regions must submit to our cause."

"Any sentient beings you discover must at once be informed of our galactic power so we do not have any disputes. Am I understood Fleet Admiral?" Palpatine questioned, thoroughly expecting an agreement.

"Yes my lord." Jorol confirmed, swallowing a lump in his throat. However, his mind raced with worry. The instructions the Emperor had given him were preposterous! He had been commanded to basically make undiscovered creatures submit to a government they knew nothing about, creatures that were yet to be introduced to the galactic community and its species. They wouldn't even be able to understand the language he spoke to them in.

Palpatine grinned enthusiastically. "Good, do not fail me Rahn." He warned. Jorol saluted and then sat back in his seat uncomfortably. Admiral Vash caught his eye and he gave a reassuring nod. Jorol returned it with a shaky smile before letting out a quiet exhale of relief.

"In three days time, all of you will be travelling to the Utegetu Nebula, where the entrance to the unknown regions is located." Palpatine explained "From there the hyperspace lane is clear and you can begin my task."

The Emperor then paused for a second, like earlier, to let his words sink in to the navy personnel before him. He wanted these people to know the importance task he had bestowed upon them for it would shape the future of his galaxy in his favour. Not only would the unknown regions be a useful resource deposit for the Empire, it would also create advantageous outposts to counter the steadily growing Rebel Alliance. 'Things look favourable' the Emperor thought optimistically.

"Now head out and prepare, and conquer in the name of the Empire!" Palpatine bellowed like a patriot. The answer to this from the crowd was a congregation of salutes and a chorus of "For the Empire!"

Jorol also saluted at this moment, a new sense of devotion propelling his actions. Despite his earlier worries, it looked like the future seemed positive, especially as he was given a lead role and had a chance to prove himself as a worthy officer of the Empire again. Indeed, it seemed positive.

However, he still had his doubts.


	4. Chapter 3: The First Signs

Chapter 3: Brought to Light

3 days later. Fleet Admiral Jorol Rahn leading the 1st Expeditionary Fleet into the unknown regions. Currently aboard the ISD Colossus in the main meeting room, current location unknown, 1BBY.

Fleet Admiral Jorol Rahn observed silently as the other men and woman he had called to this meeting took their places. Some of them who he knew exchanged quick head nods to him which he returned, while others just sat down, ready to discuss the important matter at hand.

A few hours earlier, the fleet Jorol had been instructed to command by the Emperor himself had arrived in a completely unexplored area in the unknown regions, after travelling from the Utegetu Nebula, the site of a recently discovered entrance to the unmapped sector of the galaxy. The Emperor had given him command of a fleet of thirty-five imperial starships, all battle hardened and experienced, with competent crew serving aboard them.

Their task was the exploration and conquering of the unknown regions as it would provide the Empire with countless supplies of resources and strengthen their resolve of achieving peace throughout the galaxy.

When the hypnotising swirl of electric blue that was hyperspace dissipated as the 1st Expeditionary Fleet entered the isolated void of the unknown regions, Jorol had stood in the bridge of his Star Destroyer, the ISD Colossus, staring out of the main viewports embracing the spectacular view of undisturbed space. The brilliant, radiant vein that was an arm of the galaxy had stood out more so than ever before to the experienced Fleet Admiral. Perhaps, he had thought, it was the fact that the unknown regions had barely been explored until this moment, which meant it held a magnificent, untainted beauty. The stars seemed to shine brighter amongst the cold void of space and Jorol had even faintly made out the unmistakable, beautifully coloured drapes of space dust that belonged to a flowering nebula in the far distance from where his fleet had stalled.

However, a fleeting thought had crossed Jorol's mind while he had bored his curious eyes out of the Star Destroyers view port earlier. The untouched allurement of the unknown regions had captured his mind so much that he had wondered if the mission he had been sent on was worth it. It was so peaceful out here, so calm compared to the rest of the chaotic galaxy and fast paced experience of the Empire that Jorol did not want it to be disturbed. He almost felt like he had been sent into the unknown regions to purposely stir up havoc, chaos and ultimately disturb the incorrupt beauty. The creatures of this place would also have to capitulate to this rampage the Emperor had bestowed upon the worrying Fleet Admiral if they wanted a chance. The Emperor would not tolerate any species that stood up to his regime and Jorol, now reluctantly, had to enforce that.

But now was not the time to ponder on such things. Right now, Jorol had summoned a meeting of the captains of the fleet to plan their next move.

"Ladies, Gentlemen." Began Jorol as everyone in the meeting room settled. "It is time we began to plan our future actions."

The other captains nodded in understanding.

"Since we arrived in the unknown regions, I have had the intelligence personnel on my ship scan the closest star systems, at a range of twenty light-years." Jorol explained, scanning his eyes on various officers around the table.

"The results were positive, I presume?" A tall, steely eyed man, graced with the rank of commander, who looked as if he held himself in high esteem questioned, a look of curiosity on his pompous face. Jorol gave him a short nod.

"Indeed, Commander Kain, the analysis showed that the twenty light years we scanned held almost sixty star systems." Jorol announced. The room gasped in excitement and wonder. The possibility of discovering new life was high, especially in sixty star systems.

"However..." Jorol paused as the animated mutter in the room died down. "We cannot be absolutely sure that all these systems are habitable. So, my intelligence officers narrowed down their search with more detail."

"Did they find something?" A female captain queried eagerly.

"They managed to pinpoint seven systems with planets in the habitable zone." Jorol answered. The room again erupted in an interested murmur as people shared their thoughts on the matter with others.

"Please! Ladies, Gentlemen!" Jorol shouted above the whispering which slowly ceased "This is the data we acquired."

The Fleet Admiral proceeded to handle a small, grey device and pressed down on it. All at once, the middle of the table blew up with a thrilling shade of bright blue. It morphed into a huge, 3D holo-map that covered the entire table. Several virtual stars could be seen silently hovering, peaceful amongst the void. The room took in the sight with marvel.

"The Emperor will be most pleased." The tall man from earlier, Commander Kain began, breaking the astonished silence.

"Indeed, however we must fulfill the whole task he has given us. To explore these systems, even initiate first contact with the possible species there." Jorol responded back.

"What if the species here are hostile?" Spoke a middle aged officer, a constant snark dominating his facial features, and his eyes holding cold emotions. Many people around the table nodded in agreement and looked at Jorol for an answer. At this, the Fleet Admiral lent forward with hands clenched, the blue light of the holo-display gracing over him.

"The Emperor ordered me to make any species we find submit to the Empire, and to take action if necessary." Jorol explained, a hint of reluctance in his voice. He had been questioning himself ever since arriving at the unknown regions, whether he had it in him to actually make the undiscovered creatures of this place submit. If they were like any free species, they would most certainly try and do something, even if it was small, to prevent the occurrence. The Emperor would hear none of it, and force Jorol to fight back against them. Guilty was the feeling the Fleet Admiral felt, as he was depriving these creatures a chance of opening up to the wider galaxy.

"If they reject the Emperor's cause, then we fight them and gain victory." Kain boasted, assured of the Empire's power. Jorol had noticed, ever since Kain had embarked with him and the rest of the fleet on this journey, that he tended to be arrogant in his views towards others. It seemed as though the Commander had a past with the ISB, whether being friends with someone or being a legitimate agent, Jorol had no idea.

The Fleet Admiral was about to counter the pretentious comment when a feminine voice spoke out.

"We cannot be sure of the military capability the creatures here hold. If we are to initiate first contact, we cannot go in and 'gain victory', we must first scout and gain intelligence on what we may be up against." Captain Adi Kayala argued back with her own opinion. Jorol always felt himself agreeing with the female captain. Her views on decisions and plans frequently had a sense of rationality to it. She was able to make effective battle-plans and keep everyone in check whilst doing it. If there was going to be a confrontation between the Empire and the beings of the unknown regions, Jorol knew who he was going to let have a leading role.

The Commander visibly tensed at Kayala's input, frowning darkly, his lips tightening.

"Please." Kain guffawed in rejection, holding his hand out "the creatures here cannot hold more power than us, otherwise they would have come across us by now."

"Maybe." Captain Kayala replied "but remember we had to find an entrance to the unknown regions, which means whatever life forms reside here would also have to."

Kayala leaned her clenched hands forward on the meeting table "So we don't know what power they really have."

Commander Kain raised a thoughtful eyebrow at the statement, but still remained resentful at the fact that beings from an isolated corner from the galaxy could rival the power of the Galactic Empire. In the past, there had hardly been any evidence of a civilisation living in the unknown regions. No signals on any type of hardware had come through, be it old or new. This only meant, to Kain, that the beings here were primitive in their technology. Although there could be interference with the signals due to the unnatural amount of black holes and other celestial objects that prowled the border of the unknown regions, Kain was sure it was the former.

Assuming most of the intelligent species in this isolated void of the galaxy were primitive, the Emperor could be assured of a swift, uneventful occupation of the unknown regions. Kain would see to it that it really occurred. He had noticed that Jorol and a good portion of the 1st Expeditionary Fleet's personnel were soft, almost reluctant to the Emperor's duty. Treasonous was the first word that surfaced in Commander Kain's mind. The Emperor's orders were the Emperor's orders, and Kain would follow them through without question or hesitation. He couldn't say that for some, however.

"Captain Kayala is correct. We must first scout whatever is out there." Jorol concluded, setting the tips of both his index fingers together. Many around the table approved but Kain was refraining himself from shouting out. The Emperor wanted a complete takeover of the unknown regions, not a scout of it. The beings here would be primitive, there was no doubt about it. Scouting them out shouldn't have been a priority, as the Empire should know what to expect from beings with basic technology: It would be an easy fight and a rapid occupation.

"With all due respect sir, The Emperor did instruct us to swiftly make the unknown regions capitulate to the Empire, we should begin our plan of offence. The beings here will be undoubtably primitive, there is no need for scouting." Kain tried convincing the Fleet Admiral but the man put up his hand.

"Please Commander, be reasonable." He began "As Captain Kayala rightfully stated, we don't know what we might be up against."

In his mind, Kain seethed with frustration, but instead of the strong desire to teach Fleet Admiral Jorol the Imperial code of conduct, the Commander tried to calmly list out his opinion. "Sir, I'm just saying that-"

"The Emperor told us to conquer the unknown regions hastily-Yes, but I care about my men and want to know the power of these creatures before they engage in any combat." Jorol put across his view in a cool, but subtly irritated tone, clearly bored of the Imperial Commander's zealous view. The bothered look in the Fleet Admiral's grassy green eyes told Kain there was to be no answering back.

Nodding and stepping back a little, Kain's mind boiled. What Jorol had just said was on the border of treason to the Empire. Now the earlier consideration of Jorol being soft and reluctant was plainly true. Kain had to take it into his hands to ensure the fulfilment of the mission set by the Emperor. 'In time' he thought deviously, 'In time...'

Jorol slowly averted his eyes from the persistent Commander and his temper returned to normal. Of course he would obey what the Emperor had sent him and his fleet out to do, but he was not going to recklessly go head-first into these unexplored systems without a decent check up of them. Jorol cared about whatever men he was leading. To him, they were not just his responsibility as an officer of the Imperial navy, but they were fellow sailors who wanted to experience the void of space, a passion that Jorol had grew up with through his childhood and involvement with the Republic, and later, the Imperial Navy. He would not let his comrades suffer to a hypothetical enemy no one had ever laid eyes upon or heard of, even if the Emperor had made it his number one priority to establish a foothold in the unknown regions. Kain was letting his former ISB side show, which was an undying loyalty to the Emperor's bidding. Jorol mildly respected that, but above all else, his men would come first.

"Now, respecting Captain Kayala's decision, I suggest we cover the seven analysed systems with our Star Destroyers." The Fleet Admiral outlined the plan. "I want to witness first-hand what technological level these creature possess."

In his chair, Commander Kain quietly snorted, so no one could hear him, "Primitive."

Around the table, many officers heralded their agreements to Jorol's plan and looked at him curiously as he announced the next instruction.

"We shall cover the systems in groups of three. I will personally oversee the scouting of this system." Jorol explained as he pointed out the system at hand. On the virtual hologram, it looked as if a medium class star and nine planets populated the space there. The interesting factor, if one were too look closer, was that one of the virtual spheres that represented a planet looked as if it was in the habitable zone. Life could be present there.

"As I can tell, many of you have noticed there is a habitable planet in that system." The Fleet Admiral pointed out, noticing the looks of excitement and thought on the officers around the table as they registered the fact.

"That is why I am going to lead the scout on this system. Chances are there will be intelligent life there and if first contact is to be unavoidable, then it is best if I represent us." Jorol concluded, subtly hinting to Kain's ideals in the last part. If Kain and the other extremely zealous members of the fleet initiated contact with creatures the Emperor wanted tamed and put aside, the scenario would be bloody, that was for sure.

"Commander Kain, I want you and your ship to come with me, to witness what threat the creatures could pose to us." The room silenced for a moment in surprise. Moments ago there had been a slight fury between the two officers, now the Fleet Admiral was asking the Commander to pair up and see what the beings of the unknown regions possessed. Jorol however had a good reason for this - to either prove Kain was wrong in his overzealous ideals or see if the Commanders premature scrutiny of the unknown regions technological prowess is correct.

"Yes Sir, Fleet Admiral!" Kain saluted, eyes widening a fraction that Jorol would even consider him after the ordeal that had just happened.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jorol then panned his inquisitive gaze across the meeting room table. Each officer he glanced his eyes over looked prepared for if he called them out, each one of them trying to represent themselves commendable. However, the Fleet Admiral had his sights set on another officer, one he had heard a great deal about and had high expectations of.

"Captain Walton, I would like you to be the final member of my task force." Jorol announced. A quite, recessive figure near the back of the meeting room perked up and moved an inch forward, the ocean blue light from the hologram revealing his features.

The features in question, one could see, were not at all touched by age. In fact it seemed as if this Captain Walton the Fleet Admiral has requested service of was the youngest Captain many around the meeting table had ever seen in the Imperial Navy. Some of the more arrogant navy officers dismissed the man, believing he was already incompetent just because of his youthful features. Commander Kain was one of them.

"Indeed...Sir." Tobias Walton replied, hesitating for a moment. Jorol nodded at him, understanding his nervousness. He himself had been overwhelmed when he had first been hand-picked for an important task, long ago during the Clone Wars.

Kain coughed, earning the attention of Jorol and most of the people in the room.

"Fleet Admiral Sir, are you sure it is wise to entrust a task with someone so young and…inexperienced. It looks as if Captain Walton has just come out from the academy!" Kain argued.

"For Force sake!" Suddenly the Fleet Admiral was angry. "I don't need this constant petty bickering. If I decide that

Captain Walton is to join our task force, then that is so!"

Jorol held his voice for a moment to let it sink in to Commander Kain's mind.

"I have heard a lot about Walton, his record far surpasses that of anyone else his age, I would say he is far than fitter for the task."

At the other end of the table, Walton sheepishly looked around, but it seemed the there was a newfound respect in everyone's eyes, apart from one.

"Alright..." Kain finally broke out after a moment of gritting silence. "What of the others, are we going to assign them systems to explore?"

At that question, the Fleet Admiral took the next ten minutes organising task forces and assigning them to certain systems the fleets scanners had picked up.

They just had enough groups of three to search the designated systems, but Jorol had decided to leave a group of Star Destroyers behind as a rally point in case Captain Kayala's suggestions were true and a more powerful foe did indeed exist.

Jorol glanced at his chronometer amongst the din of discussion between navy personnel in the meeting room, no doubt conversing about what the unknown regions may have to offer. The time however showed that it was the hour to leave for the upcoming task, so Jorol called for hush and stood up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you would please go back to your respective ships, it is time to begin our task of exploring the unknown regions."

For the third time in the last couple of days, Jorol found himself once again in the unnatural, beautiful blue twirl of hyperspace travel. The Fleet Admiral always thought that it was like being in low orbit - not quite feet on the ground but not zero gravity either - and it always felt calm when it should have been chaotic.

His Star Destroyer: The ISD Colossus sped at unimaginable speeds using its Imperial Class Two Hyperdrive towards the intended star system. However it wasn't alone. Two other Star Destroyers flanked the lead ship, with the same speed and firepower respectively. Task Force Aurek was quite a formidable show of force.

The Bridge of the Colossus was a bustling hive of activity as this was where the ship was monitored and kept in tip-top condition for whatever could occur. In the pits beside Jorol, sections such as Astrogation were hard at work, monitoring all celestial features the ship was able seek out. Navigation made sure that the task force of three Star Destroyers kept on track through the hostile environment of space. Jorol oversaw all of this with vigorous pride, no doubt that the captain's of the other two ships in the task force felt the same way.

"Navigation?" The Fleet Admiral suddenly called out. In the pit, a short, balding man stood up quickly.

"Yes sir?"

"How far away until we reach the target?" Jorol responded. The Navigations officer exchanged some words with another officer situated at a console for a brief moment then answered to the awaiting Fleet Admiral.

"Approximately two hundred and eighty Astronomical Units away sir, we're close."

Jorol nodded his thanks "Alright, cease all hyperspace activity. Inform the Mynock's Tear and the Bane to do so as well."

The transition back to normal space began and the blue tunnel of brilliant light morphed back into the countless dots that were stars, shining against the empty background of space.

Jorol glanced out of the viewport and watched as the two other Star Destroyers exited suddenly from hyperspace, flanking the sides of his own ship. There was a moment of tense silence on he bridge of the Colossus as everyone took in the view. Amongst the collection of distant stars, there was a much brighter and larger one, its light shimmering in a fantastic display of nature's beauty. They had arrived at the designated star system.

Gazing at the star gave Jorol an overwhelming sense of calm. Was he really going into this place to stir up chaos?

"Sir, we have arrived at the edge of the system." The Navigation's officer called out. Jorol made a quick calculation in his head. The distance away that the star seemed to be definitely look as if they were. Now they had to travel in further and discover whatever things were there, whether friendly or not.

"Astrogation? I want a quick scan of the system, find out what planets there are." The Fleet Admiral commanded. Astrogation instantly went to work, scanning the system using the Star Destroyers sophisticated long-range scanning equipment. Not a moment later, a holo-map appeared on the terminal beside Jorol, showing nine spheres suspended in natural order with a virtual star. He examined it closely, plans already beginning to form in his mind.

With a stroke of his chin, Jorol strode to the communication terminal near the back of the bridge. The terminal in question was a small, round structure which was plastered with several buttons and screens all serving a different purpose. In the middle of it was a large blue circle which acted as the holo-communicator. Jorol totes around with a few devices for a moment until two figures, dressed in imperiaL uniform, appeared on he blue circle.

"Gentlemen, I trust the journey here went without accident?" The Fleet Admiral greeted.

Indeed, sir." Captain Walton's holographic figure replied, standing perfectly straight and to attention. Thought the captain was young he was very disciplined.

"And you, Commander?"

Kain's holographic figure saluted, a little unenthusiastically than before. Jorol suspected it was the fact the zealous commander thought his pride would be dented by working with someone that he viewed as inexperienced.

"All is well here, sir." Kain spoke back. Jorol nodded in satisfaction, and at once began to outline the plan to his subordinates. They listened with patience and thoughtfulness, carefully hearing all Jorol had to say. The Fleet Admiral knew he could rely on both of the men, considering both had aspects that made them valuable people to have when leading a historic expedition into the unknown.

Jorol was just listening to an important question Kain was asking about the possibility of any habitable planets when the Astrogation's Officer sprinted in, a look of pure anxiousness etched onto his wrinkling face. His forehead glistened with the first signs of sweat. Jorol gave him a concerned expression as he came over and leant in closer.

"Sir" he whispered "We just received an anomaly on our scanners and it's very close by. You must take a look."

The Fleet Admiral took in the information then stood with surprising speed, startling the Astrogation's Officer for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Walton queried over the comms channel.

"Hold fast gentlemen, I'll be back in a moment. Just hang on" Jorol replied as he left. The bridge, when he arrived, was suddenly a hive of activity. The new situation has stirred things up a bit and Jorol was glad to see his crew working in such orderly fashion. The Astrogation Officer nudged Jorol who followed him to a screen showing a lot of numerical information.

"See this?" The officer motioned to a certain set of numbers arranged in a coordinate fashion "That's the location of an anomaly we just picked up off our starboard side and it's heading straight for us."

Jorol's eyes widened "Have you double checked it?"

"Triple, sir."

"What do you think it is? A comet of some kind?" The Fleet Admiral questioned as concern and even worry started to rise in his mind, and before the Astrogation officer replied back to him, Jorol already knew the answer.

"It's going much too slow to be a comet, so it's got to be...well..." The Officer stuttered but Jorol finished his sentence for him.

"Aliens."

The whole bridge went silent as Jorol stormed over to the bridge viewport. He wanted to see what this thing was and if it was indeed something of unknown origin, then he was determined to capture it and study it. Looking out of the viewport, he could see nothing but the inky blackness of space and the stars pinpointed amongst it, but no sign of anything out of the ordinary.

"How far away is the anomaly?" He shouted out in the silence of the bridge.

"Approximately two hundred and forty one kilometres and it's closing fast on our starboard side!" A voice shouted back at him. Jorol was eccentric now, and his lively eyes jolted around, looking for any sign of whatever the thing may be.

30 seconds passed.

Still scanning, Jorol saw nothing at all but the void of space mocking him. The anomaly surely should be visible at any moment but maybe it was all a lost cause.

Then he saw it.

"There! Right there!" He cried, jolting some of the crew. Sure enough, a very small light grey shape, almost the same colour as a Star Destroyer, was approaching. Jorol had only been able to see it because of a few flickering lights present on the object which, surely by now, was of some 'other' origin.

The Astrogation Officer ran up beside him and also spotted it, eyes widening with shock then excitement. But Jorol was even more excited, because here was the perfect chance to find out some things.

"Ready the tractor beam!" He ordered. Some of he crew members in the pit instantly tapped away at their monitors "But wait for my signal."

The object, now clearly displaying a dish shaped object and several other panels of some kind, moved in line with Jorol's Star Destroyer. It was the perfect moment.

"Now!"

The tractor beam activated.

The object seemed to shudder violently then come to a grinding halt so very quickly, as if it hadn't been moving at all. It proceeded again, but this time in the direction of the Colossus' hangar.

"Keep that trajectory, I'm going down to the hangar."

With that, Jorol jogged out of the bridge in the direction of the elevators, but stopped at the holotable on his way where the two other captains of Task Force Aurek were patiently waiting.

"Gentlemen, get over to my ship, we have discovered something that may be alien life." Jorol hastily explained, after which he full on sprinted towards the elevators.

Jorol entered the hangar just as the alien craft landed. Already, several people surrounded it, marvelling at the structure of whatever it was and the prospect that it was really something crafted by alien life.

The Fleet Admiral pushes his way to the front of the growing crowd where he had a clear view of the ship. Up close, Jorol could see the intricacies of the thing which included numerous buttons, switches and panels that were situated on a small, cuboid shaped body. Aligned on that structure were long panel objects, stretching out far from the main body of the craft. Finally, at the fore front. A huge, dish shaped object dominated the ship as a whole.

As Jorol and others examined the craft with curiosity, two Lambda class shuttles flew into and touched down in the hangar. Commander Kain and Captain Walton rushed to the commotion, forcing their way through the surge of people surrounding the craft.

"Fleet Admiral!" Kain called out. Jorol turned and waved them over.

"Like my catch?" He began.

"Huh, a primitive one to be exact." Kain observed the craft with a sneer "What did I tell you?"

"Yes, well, you'll never really know what they're capable of. They could have primitive space capabilities but a brilliant military." Jorol reasoned. Kain guffawed.

"I'll be damned if they are able to stand up against the Empire's army."

"Whatever, we'll deal with that matter when we get there" Jorol explained "but right now we just have to find out where this ship came from."


End file.
